Buy lower trim and modify to upper trim?

[Q1svt]

So, I bought my 25 badlands in July and of course love it. I have spent most of my life buying the cheapest of anything and driving it till its dead as thats what I could afford.

In retrospect, a big bend black diamond would have sufficed as most of its running time is getting me to the office and back

… good approach for many, if staying within OEM components.

Others want a rock buggy and drive it on the street.

I order a 25 Badlands Mt7 sas with everything for off-road so I didn’t need to add basic stuff but my first choice was to buy a new gen-1 body and a custom frame & goodies.

The time to make that happen and finding a way to get it titled ended that approach …

So no single way to do things

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[23OBX2.7]

The lightning in a bottle comment is excellent. The first couple of years had crazy optional build paths. Stuff you could get excited about.

I went to the B&P just last night and eventually closed it out due to disgust.
There really are no kickass build paths to go down right now.... and the available colors suck ass.

Want the heavier duty driveline, or just a rear locker for that matter?
In the end, you always end up just a few hundred from a Badlands.

The original Black Diamond ... I would love to drive one of the v6 versions with 4.46 gears and 32" tires. Probably a snappy little rig.

These new ones are just not worth the ask.
Not to me.
But I already have one, so my opinion is probably skewed. I'd rather have a Super Duty for the equivalent $$$$.


My daughter just now pointed out ... "would you rather have a 60th Anniversary package Bronco ... or a new Sting Ray Corvette?"

Do I get to keep my 2021 2dr in AMB? LOL?

I agree entirely was happy to luck into 23OBX2.7 lux velocity blue at heavy discount had stopped looking at bronco all together when that happened.

 

[helifino16]

I struggled with this same question when I ordered mine. After pricing out several upgrades to a Base, I thought it was better to just “Go For It” and get all I wanted and ended up with the Wildtrak. I am much happier with that choice.

 

[EvilJim1971]

I was an original reservation holder and put in my order for 21 for a base 2 door manual, couldn't get cyber orange on the base so I ordered velocity blue.
When I got pushed to 22, cyber orange was an option, so I reordered as a base 2 door Sasquatch manual in cO.
Got pushed to 23, cyber orange was discontinued... So I just changed the color to race red.
Then they released the Heritage Edition.
Painted hardtop and mid package for less than a similarly equipped Big Bend? Sign me up!
With the red and white I was most of the way to a Stroppe Tribute off the showroom floor. Little did I know that Ford was gonna screw THAT up 2 years later.
But... I got what I wanted, a top that isn't a crack monster, AND heated seats
Plus I love the looks and reactions it gets.
Since then I have upgraded the seats to Katzkin leather and swapped to a Wildtrak Fox suspension.
It is close to perfect "for me".
Other just see it as a clown car.

 

[Brian_B]

I was an original reservation holder and put in my order for 21 for a base 2 door manual, couldn't get cyber orange on the base so I ordered velocity blue.
When I got pushed to 22, cyber orange was an option, so I reordered as a base 2 door Sasquatch manual in cO.
Got pushed to 23, cyber orange was discontinued... So I just changed the color to race red.
Then they released the Heritage Edition.
Painted hardtop and mid package for less than a similarly equipped Big Bend? Sign me up!
With the red and white I was most of the way to a Stroppe Tribute off the showroom floor. Little did I know that Ford was gonna screw THAT up 2 years later.
But... I got what I wanted, a top that isn't a crack monster, AND heated seats
Plus I love the looks and reactions it gets.
Since then I have upgraded the seats to Katzkin leather and swapped to a Wildtrak Fox suspension.
It is close to perfect "for me".
Other just see it as a clown car.

Your build is 10x better than the “official” Stroppe edition imho

 

[Baja71]

I was an original reservation holder and put in my order for 21 for a base 2 door manual, couldn't get cyber orange on the base so I ordered velocity blue.
When I got pushed to 22, cyber orange was an option, so I reordered as a base 2 door Sasquatch manual in cO.
Got pushed to 23, cyber orange was discontinued... So I just changed the color to race red.
Then they released the Heritage Edition.
Painted hardtop and mid package for less than a similarly equipped Big Bend? Sign me up!
With the red and white I was most of the way to a Stroppe Tribute off the showroom floor. Little did I know that Ford was gonna screw THAT up 2 years later.
But... I got what I wanted, a top that isn't a crack monster, AND heated seats
Plus I love the looks and reactions it gets.
Since then I have upgraded the seats to Katzkin leather and swapped to a Wildtrak Fox suspension.
It is close to perfect "for me".
Other just see it as a clown car.

Clown cars are my fav!!!

 

[Sitruc_btb]

Unless you’re financially strapped, I doubt you’ll ever regret having more lux and capability than you might need. It’s the people who get less that often have regrets and try to make up for it later.

I was considering a Big Bend years back since "I don't need the extra capability", but I knew I would kick myself forever if I didn't get exactly what I wanted. Badlands I ordered. Badlands I received. I use it, no doubt, but I would have had much envy and regret had I picked the BB.

 

[ThunderFlash]

IMHO, it's a great truck to buy used. It might take some leg work and patience to find exactly what you want. It's wise to research it's recall/service history, have a plan if you want to modify it, and educate yourself on different model year package variations. There are a lot of lower mileage examples that have never seen a gravel road. Original owner probably found it too damn noisy...which it's not. I'm not generally hard set on colors, but I got lucky and even got the Area 51 that I preferred. I also got lucky in that it was the lowest priced used, low milage '22 2-door WT (12K miles with about 8 months of remaining bumper to bumper) I could find in the entire country. ALSO LUCKY it was at a Ford dealership about 20 miles away from me whom I have had decent past experiences with. Maybe it was fate. The damn thing just makes me so freaking happy!

Edit: Originally I was set on a BL SAS, but then I saw on this forum that Dallas at SFR successfully put the SBD on his WT. That opened the door to the WT for me if I found after a while that I NEEDED it (haven't yet). So, thanks Bronco 6g community! But I have to admit, the missing hero button does make me envious and feel a little inadequate from time to time, though.

 

[MayhemMike]

One never complains of the options they received. They do complain about the options they didn’t receive. I didn’t require a Bad Lands, but after slicing up the trims and options it became apparent the BL was the best value. Plus it has the best trim name. Lol. I will never use the bar disconnect, or the trail turn assist. But the trim had the options I wanted which is what mattered. Enjoy your Bronco. I sure do.

 

[Brian_B]

One never complains of the options they received.

…Until they break

I curse out Sync 4 on almost daily basis and wish I could have opted out of that

 

[ThunderFlash]

I curse out Sync 4

Do you have other pieces of recent technology that are 100% irritation free? I don't think I do.

Edit: I briefly had a '22 Volvo XC60 T8 Recharge Polestar Engineered (yes, that was the full model name). The Infotainment system software controlled EVERYTHING and was sourced from Google. In early cars, many could not start their cars or sometimes even get into their car because of Google software glitches. Point being, Sync 4 could be worse!

 

[EvilJim1971]

Strange, we rarely have an issue with it in ours.
Now the uconnect in our Challenger...

 

[Brian_B]

Do you have other pieces of recent technology that are 100% irritation free? I don't think I do.

No, but that old Kenwood head unit that I had in my '96 - never gave me issues.

Sure it wasn't nearly as glitzy and didn't have all the same bells and whistles. But what it had - it did very well.

 

[Bugkillah]

For my first bronco I ordered a ‘22 4 door base Sasquatch 2.3 for $44,000 (that came in as a ‘23). Best bang for the buck, and as far as performance, all it’s missing is swaybar disco.

Then I was jonesing for a 2 door badlands. Found a new non Sasquatch 2.7 for $54,500, talked ‘em down to $45,000. Sell take offs and buy wildtrack Sasquatch 35’s, only cost me $500 in the end. So for only a few hundred more than a base Sasquatch, I got the perfect off roader. 98% a Stroppe without the $30,000 paint job.

So yeah, certain trims are good for upgrading if you can find a good deal.

 

[ThunderFlash]

Now the uconnect in our Challenger...

OMG! I traded in a 2016 Challenger SRT 392 on my Bronco. When I was researching that Dodge, all the freaking reviews would gush about how great and awesome Uconnect was. These same people would also always bashed Sync, which I thought was pretty damn good in our Explorer Sport. IMHO, Uconnect sucked!

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